In an interview with The Herald yesterday, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing permanent secretary Engineer George Mlilo urged local government authorities to go out in full force and recover debts they are owed by residents. He also said that there will be no debt write off ahead of the 2018 elections as was done in 2013.
Said Mlilo:
We have noticed that service delivery is deteriorating because local authorities are struggling to get beyond 50 percent of billed revenue. We think the reason is people were expecting a debt write off like what happened in 2013. The ministry has made it clear that there will not be another debt write-off. We are urging local authorities to go out in full force and persuade residents to pay. They should make them understand that for councils to provide good services they should play their part.
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